Page 15

“Your reason for leaving me out here better be phenomenal,” Zane practically growled when the door to Pavel’s bedroom in the penthouse suite at the top of Concealed finally opened and the man stepped out with his brother. He set his glare on Ledger. “Last I checked, you are not medically trained to deal with a stab wound.”

“We get stabbed all the time,” Ledge reminded with a roll of his eyes. “Relax. This was nothing. I’ve been patching him up since we were kids. He’s just used to me doing it, that’s all. No need to take it so personally.”

“I’m not.” He was. He absolutely was.

“Careful, Doctor,” Pavel drawled, seeming far too pleased with himself, all things considered, “I might start thinking you actually care about me.”

“Your delusions are your own.” Zane followed the two of them down the long hallway and the stairs, unable to contain his displeasure when they entered the kitchen and Ledger helped his brother onto one of the black bar stools set around the granite island.

This was too cozy. Too…domestic.

The opposite of why he’d come here.

“You ever been here before, Doc?” Ledger asked, moving to the refrigerator.

“No.” What possible reason could Zane have had to visit Pavel at his home?

The kitchen was situated to the left of the entrance, with the living area at the far center, and a dining area to the right. There was a hallway between the two, and then next to the kitchen, the stairwell they’d just descended since Pavel’s room was located on the second floor.

The penthouse was decorated in grays, chromes, and blacks, with statues set out in almost every corner, and potted planets—so many potted plants. He didn’t understand why he was so hung up on that detail, but Zane found himself counting them, growing more perplexed by the second.

“Have we even met before?” he muttered, unable to help himself, still taking the open floorplan of the main level in as Ledger poured his brother a glass of water and set it on the counter.

The corner of Pavel’s lips tipped upward, but he didn’t get a chance to reply; the waiter from earlier suddenly appeared from the hallway on the opposite side of the room.

“Thank you,” Nikita joined them and spoke to Zane in a light tone. “Seriously. That was…a lot down there. I appreciate you coming to my defense.”

“He’s right,” Ledger agreed, nodding his head. “Thanks.”

“I recognized him,” Zane said. “It would have been harder not to, you’ve been bringing him around everywhere.”

Ledger chuckled. “That’s Zane for you. Always putting the Retinue first.”

Nikita frowned. “I’m not Retinue.”

“You’re mine,” Ledger stated. “That’s the same thing.”

It was clear the waiter wanted to argue, but Zane hadn’t come here to listen to whatever was going on between the two of them either.

“We need to talk.” His gaze cut to Pavel and held.

“Alone?” Ledger was the one to ask.

“Doesn’t have to be.” Zane felt a spark of satisfaction when his response clearly confused Pavel. “Personally, I don’t care if you hear about how your brother’s been treating me.”

“How has he been treating you?” Nikita sounded uncertain, jumping back into the conversation. Despite his claims not to be a part of the Retinue, he must feel safe enough amongst these two to be so vocal.

Ledger looked uncomfortable, shifting on his feet, suddenly unable to meet his boyfriend's gaze.

“He’s almost given me a concussion on several occasions,” Zane filled in.

Pavel frowned. “I have?”

“Have you only fucked Vitals?” he snorted. “My bones aren’t made of star crystal. I will in fact break if you keep throwing me onto the ground.”

“You’ve done what?” Nikita’s expression darkened. “That’s abuse.”

“Uh,” Ledger cleared his throat and came around the counter, setting his palms on Nikita’s shoulders in an attempt to steer him away, “how about we—”

“No,” he shook him off with a huff, glaring daggers Pavel’s way.

Which completely caught Zane off guard. Up until now, the twenty-year-old had always come off as timid whenever Zane saw him, but Nikita was clenching his fists as though he was holding himself back from taking a swing.

At Pavel Hart, arguably one of the scariest Devils there was—and Zane wasn’t just thinking that because the man had hunted him through the wilderness either. It was a known fact.

“You can’t just hurt someone you don’t like,” Nikita said, voice quivering slightly.

“Funny,” Pavel cocked his head, “I don’t recall you feeling that way when Ledger asked Madden to break your brother’s fingers.”

“That was different.”

“How so?”

“He deserved it.”

“How do you know Zane didn’t deserve it as well?”

Zane rolled his eyes. “I’m standing right here, and for the record, I did nothing to you to deserve any of it. Your odd fetish—”

“It’s more of a fixation,” Ledger inputted, only to hold up both hands when that earned him a dark look from all three of them. “Never mind. Tiger, seriously babe, let’s leave the two of them to talk things out.”

Nikita turned to Zane. “Would you like us to stay?”

Was he…Did he think the two of them would be able to protect him from Pavel if the other Retinue member chose to do something to him right here and now?

How…cute.

“You are kind of adorable, aren’t you?” the words slipped out sort of like how his earlier comment about not knowing Pavel had. Since when had he lost his filter?

Ledger let out a low warning sound. “Watch it, Zane.”

“Relax,” he reassured. “I’m not interested in trying to take him. I don’t mess with people who don’t belong to me.”

“Tell that to Nate Narek.”

“Extenuating circumstances.” Ones Zane wouldn’t explain. He didn’t owe them anything. Still, he made a point of smiling at the concerned waiter, doing his best to make the look convincing. “I’ll be all right, thank you. If Pavel tries anything tonight, I’ll do to him what I did to that unruly customer downstairs.”

“Please don’t,” Ledger sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’d really like to go home and cuddle my man uninterrupted if it’s all the same to you.”

Nikita blushed at that, dropping his eyes to the floor.

Oh yeah. Super adorable. He—

Zane hissed when suddenly Pavel’s large palm slapped on his nape and hauled him hard against his side.

Even seated, he was able to keep hold of him, forcing Zane to have to bend slightly forward to accommodate him. He set his free arm on the counter, resting his elbow on the granite before lowering his chin into his palm as he stared Zane down.

“Keep looking at him like that,” Pavel said, “and I’ll be forced to blindfold you at every family event moving forward.”

Family.

Zane’s traitorous heart thumped wildly in his chest and he fought to get it back under control. He refused to come apart over a single word, especially one currently being used in a threat.

His palms found the edge of the counter and he went to push himself up, sucking in a sharp breath when that ticked Pavel off more and he shoved him with more force. His cheek connected with the granite, the whacking sound loud enough to vibrate through the kitchen.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Nikita rushed over, slipping free when Ledger tried to stop him. He grabbed Zane by the arm and tugged him away, probably not noticing when Pavel eased his hold and allowed it. “You can’t treat him like that!”

As soon as he’d put a little distance—not nearly enough to count—between them, Nikita pursed his lips and checked on Zane’s cheek. “Does it hurt? Should I get you something so it doesn’t bruise?”

Setting aside the fact it’d sounded worse than it’d felt…Zane tipped his chin in the direction of the brothers pointedly. “While I appreciate the sentiment, I suggest you let go of me before you put my life in actual danger. I can take your boyfriend in a fight, but I don’t think that’s the direction either of us want this going, agreed?”

Nikita dropped his arm as though burned, some of the worry draining away now that Zane had all but mentioned beating up Ledger.

Both Ledger and Pavel were watching them like hawks, still as statues and seemingly unblinking. It would have been creepy, laughable, or both, if all of that attention wasn’t turned Zane and Nikita’s way.

“Your boyfriend really is adorable,” Zane said, unable to help himself. He never missed an opportunity to underhandedly rile someone up. He gave Nikita one final look and then grinned at Ledger. “But don’t worry. Even if he wasn’t already taken, he isn’t my type. Good Samaritan isn’t my personal flavor.”

“Elaborate for the kid, Doctor,” Pavel ordered, “so that this sort of thing doesn’t happen again in the future.”

As badly as he wanted to disobey, since the man didn’t have any authority over him, Zane didn’t want to drag the innocent Nikita any further into this tangled mess between them.

“I like it when he roughs me up,” Zane ended up saying, knowing that doing so also confirmed what Pavel had been thinking about him all this time, but not seeing a way around it. “It turns me on not having a say, in being forced. Not everyone on the planet is capable of gaining the upper hand with me, after all. Even your boyfriend wouldn’t be able to.”

“Could you please stop threatening bodily harm against Ledger?” Nikita flinched when Zane grinned at that.

“He momentarily forgot you were one of us,” Pavel surmised.

“That’s all right. It was nice being considered for once.” Apparently, the vulnerable confessions were just going to keep coming tonight. Zane sighed. “I’m not going to hurt Ledger, Nikita.”

Ledger snorted but didn’t argue whether or not it would be possible. He was a strong fighter, but he was volatile and impulsive. That kind of fighting had never been able to stand against Zane’s calculation in the ring.

“I like it when Pavel roughs me up,” he continued. “But I meant it about knocking my head on things, and I’d prefer not to injure his brother and get on his actual bad side. His good side is already more than enough for me to handle.”

Zane was sweet-talking. He slipped into the role with ease, years of being trained to appease those in power around him causing him to do so now. Because, sure, technically he held a higher position than Pavel Hart within the Retinue, but like Ledger, Zane could admit when he was at a disadvantage.

Even injured, Pavel had held him down just now with ease, not to mention, Ledger was still present and would undoubtedly side with his brother if Zane did try to resist something. It was sweet that Nikita had thrown himself into the fire, so to speak, but Zane was sort of finding himself endeared to the younger man, which meant he wouldn’t allow him to take unnecessary risks.

They were in Pavel’s penthouse, in the building he owned, filled with staff that took his orders.

And he’d just played his hand by trying to comfort Nikita in front of the only person on planet who seemed capable of seeing through him.

“ You momentarily forgot where you were,” Pavel noted, teasing him the same way he had Nikita. When Zane’s spine stiffened, he laughed. “Don’t blame me, gorgeous. You’re the one who followed us up here. It’s not my fault you didn’t consider the door would most likely be locked once you were inside.”

He had followed them up here, so there was no point in denying that or reminding Pavel that he’d been bleeding out with a knife in his gut at the time, so Zane hadn’t exactly been thinking about whatever weird thing they had going on between them.

“Planning on letting them stick around while you fuck me?” Zane forced himself to say it as though it didn’t bother him, eyes wandering back to Nikita. “I wouldn’t mind half of that audience…”

“Get out,” Pavel’s voice dropped deadly low, and when Zane took a step toward the door, warned, “Don’t play dumb with me right now. You’re wrong if you think I can’t still put you over my knee just because of a minor injury.”

Zane swallowed the retort he so desperately wanted to give, knowing it would bother the other man more if he didn’t feed into the taunt.

“Get,” Pavel sent a glare to his brother, “out.”

Nikita went more willingly with Ledger this time, though he glanced back at Zane and worried his lip between his teeth all the way to the exit.

“You should take notes,” Zane said, staring back right up until Ledger and Nikita vanished and the door closed behind them with a definitive click.

“Of?”

“The way Nikita looks at me.” Zane pulled his eyes from the direction they’d gone and turned back to Pavel, pretending that his stomach wasn’t clenched in knots, and he wasn’t worried he’d made a poor decision in coming here. “Or, more specifically, the way he looks at me when he goes.”

People liked vulnerability, it was disarming, and now that the two of them were alone, Zane needed every edge he could get. If that meant being more honest than he was typically comfortable with? So be it. He got the feeling one of Pavel’s goals was tearing him open to get at his truths anyway.

Pavel inspected him for a moment, clearly trying to read between the lines and then guessed, “You felt neglected.”

“I felt like used trash,” he corrected tersely. “No matter what game you’re playing, I am still a Royal. I will be treated as one.”

“A Royal?” Pavel chuckled, the sound lacking all kindness. “They slap the name Solace on your birth certificate and you think that’s what makes you a Royal, baby? Were you garbage before you got the title then?”

Zane winced, his reaction that time very real.

“I’m from Hexa,” he sneered, “remember?”

“Why are you suddenly angry?” Zane didn’t get it, but then his statement hit him and he frowned. “Are you implying that we…knew each other? On Hexa?” That wasn’t possible. “I was a child when I was adopted from—”

“Oblitus Orphanage,” Pavel said, darkness looming behind his eyes. “I know.”

Zane had miscalculated.

Again.